


The Devil is a Boy

by DesdemonaWrath



Series: Strangely, Some Songs You Really Don't Want To Write [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: But you need more that 12 people, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Handful of OCs, M/M, Multi, Song Lyrics, Song fic, adding tags later, mentions of polyamory, uh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 05:15:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13991238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesdemonaWrath/pseuds/DesdemonaWrath
Summary: Seven years is a long time. Seven years of laughter, tears, and fighting can leave an impact. And six months isn't enough to erase the feelings from seven years of love.Or alternatively, six months is totally enough time to get over your high school sweetheart and move on to a new girlfriend. Just ask Yang and Mercury.A Battle of the Bands AU that exactly one person asked for.





	The Devil is a Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RedTeamShark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedTeamShark/gifts).



> Shelter is important. It's safety and comfort. Even in dark times, it can be protection.
> 
> But losing that shelter is devastating.
> 
> Shelter by Birdy  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXwPUYU8rTI

Mercury hated road trips. More than anything. Not enough leg room, horrible trash radio talk shows, and three of the most crotchety women he had ever had the misfortune of meeting could only be forgotten momentarily by sleep. Even then, Neo had the nasty habit of ‘accidentally’ hitting him in the chest or face when she shifted in the backseat next to him. They had been driving for nearly a full day, stopping long enough to get gas and eat. Cinder had already snapped at her girlfriend, which only made the ride more tense and awkward.

So, when they finally pulled into the lot sometime in the late afternoon, he bailed out of the cramped van and stretched. Neo and Emerald were next out, while Cinder stayed in the driver’s seat with a silently seething expression. There were plenty of other vans from small bands (like them) and even a few buses (probably rented) littering the open slab of land. Bands from all over tended to flock to the Vytal Festival for a chance to become the next big thing. A guaranteed tour with a band of the same genre and studio time were tempting prizes and worth the time. All they had to do was get the open slot for their group and he was certain they’d make it within the year.

“Hey, Asshole. Stop daydreaming and get your shit. We are going to the room.” Emerald tossed his duffle bag towards him and didn’t look as impressed as Mercury thought she should when he caught it. “We are leaving everything that isn’t a must-have.”

He chuckled, much to her further annoyance, “What? You mean I can’t bring the entire kit upstairs? I might die without it.”

She looked as if she was going to reply but was cut off by the slamming of their van door. Cinder glared between them, “Let’s go. I get the first shower.”

No one protested the demand.

The walk up towards the squat hotel across the street wasn’t miserable in and of itself, but with the ill moods, it was practically torture. He loved making the girls irritable but the foul air wasn’t his fault - which made it not as fun. One checked-in, showered, and fed, the quartet went about their own ways. Neo went off to do… Whatever Neo did when she was on her own. Mercury really had wanted a nap, but Cinder and Emerald were well on their way to making up, if the return of pet names were any indication, and instead he needed to be far away from the displays of disgusting affection.

It wasn’t exactly that he didn’t want what was effectively his older sister to be happy; he just couldn’t stand any of their sweet talk. It hadn’t been long enough for the deep wound of his last relationship to do anything more than fester. He still had dreams about the blonde beauty he had woken up beside for years. Her voice would occasionally float down the hall, like she was singing in the shower she’d long since left. On the nights where he hurt the worst, he could still catch the scent of her shampoo that seemed ingrained into the fibers of his bedding. Everything in that apartment screamed with the absence of his sunshine. Her warmth and light had vanished and he was left blinded by the darkness in her wake.

Thoughts spiralled down further into the never-ending cesspool of guilt and blame. He was too proud to call her and apologize, though. He knew it was better to keep how much he needed to her locked away until it didn’t matter anymore. She had walked out and left him. Nearly six years was nothing to her. She didn’t bother to let the passing remark roll off her shoulders like normal. Without so much as a phone call, she disappeared to her father’s place for Thanksgiving. When the holiday came and went, he knew. She wasn’t coming back. For someone with more abandonment issues than anyone he’d ever met, she certainly was good at disappearing on someone who loved her. If she had wanted to make up or talk about it, she would have stayed. And he refused to be the one to break in the six month-long streak of not speaking to each other. 

Foul mood returned to its former glory, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked through the stages that were dormant until the next day. A few others had the same idea, but chose to avoid his path. Tents littered the several acres that the yearly festival took place on. Spectators were already preparing for the metaphorical bloodbath that was to come. Four stages - one for each competing genre - stood looming over them. Twenty bands whittled down to four in less than a week. For anyone else, it was intimidating. Mercury? He lived for the rush of it.

His own spectating done, he made his way back to where his bandmates were holed up. Regardless of the barely setting sun, morning would come too quickly and they’d all regret it if there wasn’t some semblance of sleep. Cinder and Emerald apparently agreed, already curled together with sleep having overtaken them sometime in his absence. Neo, however, was gone still. With a shake of his head, he made his way to the bed he’d have to share with the silent, tiny woman. He knew she’d purposefully wake him up when she returned but he accepted it as he plopped down into the empty bed.

As he drifted off, he could have sworn he heard laughter- her laughter- right outside the door. He couldn’t find it in him to get up, though, when he knew that disappointment was the only thing on the other side.

**

“Yang! Slow down!” Weiss screeched from the backseat.

The blonde laughed as she glanced at her sister’s girlfriend in the rear view mirror, “I’m going the speed limit. We’re fine.” A few voices from the back of the bus grumbled in disagreement. “Come on. It’s fine. We are almost there. The GPS says less than five minutes.”

“Five minutes longer with you sounds like I have a death wish.”

“Five minutes is enough time to die in a horrible accident!”

“Yeah, five minutes if you drive like a normal human being!”

Blake turned around in the seat next to her, “Guys. We’ve been in this bus for nearly nineteen hours. Five more minutes won’t kill you.”

“Thank you, Blake. At least someone has faith in me.”

Nora piped up from the far back again, “She’s probably the only one.”

Blake looked at Yang and grinned, turning the softly playing music up to drown out the complaints from their friends. The girl returned the grin with a smirk of her own. The very short ride to the parking lot where all of the other vehicles were lined up were spent with the two purposefully singing off-key and out of time. A mixture of laughing, groaning, and joining voices echoed back up at them.

She had missed being in the middle of antics with her friends. They had all stuck together while she moved away from home. It hadn’t been seamless, but the last six months had been a good start in repairing the relationships from her school days. Four years away- especially when they might as well have been wasted- was too long. She never wanted to lose the closeness they had again.

A waste probably wasn’t the best choice of words, but she refused to let herself think of them as anything else. If she allowed any other descriptor to lay claim, she’d fall to pieces. It still hurt to think about the little one bedroom apartment in the city, laying under those stupid glow in the dark star stickers they bought on a whim, his fingers tracing patterns against her shoulder blade. She wanted to pluck out the memories of his weight next to her or the way his smile seemed to always brighten her day. It was a nasty jagged scar that she kept covered.

So, when she had went home. Her dad gladly took her in. Ruby had pulled her out of the room a week after she had gotten back. They knew it was over. When they pressed her, however, she told them nothing. It was too fresh, even six months later. No one knew of their clashing tempers or the lack of communication. No one knew that she felt cornered, or that he felt stuck. No one knew how their relationship fell apart because of her.

“We’re here!” Ruby cried, coming between the front seats to point at the hotel they’d be parked in front of for the week. “There are so many people here already!”

Yang shook off the thoughts that had crept in as Blake pushed the girl back with a giggle. An excited chatter overtook the vehicle as she pulled up and stopped. Once the engine was cut off, everyone was in a hurry to pile out onto the sidewalk. The blonde, however, didn’t move. Her hands stayed clutched around the steering wheel. She didn’t get nervous often, but the fluttering in her stomach made it impossible to ignore.

There was a real possibility that they could win the opportunity of a lifetime. Three people who she couldn’t imagine life without and herself had the chance to follow dreams they had created when she had mentioned how much she missed playing music. Ruby hadn’t hesitated. Weiss already had a small following with her local coffee shop. Blake was easy enough to convince after the other three had shown her how serious they were and they wouldn’t be anywhere without her words. She hadn’t thought about how big of a deal it was until they were unable to back out. Her mouth went dry at the realization.

A hand reached out to grab onto hers. She turned her attention to Blake, who hadn’t left her side. The dark-haired girl offered a sweet smile, one that settled Yang’s rising panic. She shifted to link her fingers with her best friend, “Come on. We shouldn’t leave that group alone for too long.”

Blake laughed as she nodded. Their hands stayed locked for only a second longer before she pulled away, “Yeah. Your sister might find a way to destroy something.”

It didn’t take much time before the gang was sitting at the diner a few blocks down, laughing and joking about the days to come. If she had really let herself think about it, she probably would have stayed back on the bus and just asked for someone to bring her back food. She’d joke with them, but it wasn’t her main priority. She managed to pass it off as nerves. In reality, it was the realization that everyone came with someone. It hadn’t been as glaringly obvious when they were home since they always had other people to hang out with. But, sitting in the biggest booth of the diner, surrounded by couples, she couldn’t help but notice.

Blake was busy texting whoever, a far-off dreamy look in her eyes as she idly ate her fries. Weiss was acting embarrassed by the excitable Ruby and Nora talking much louder than was necessary. Ren was watching the two with a look of amusement instead. Jaune and Pyrrha were doing that thing Yang hated, where they would stare at each other like no one else existed. The one thing she hadn’t wanted to deal with had suddenly came into full focus: she was single, for the first time since high school. Her appetite seemed to vanish and she pushed away her plate, pulling out her phone to distract herself.

As some sort of cruel cosmic joke, it was Pyrrha who leaned over and laid her head against Yang’s shoulder, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just tired and anxious about this week.”

“Well, Jaune and I were about to head back. We got a room. You can have the shower first.”

Yang made a face, “Yeah, you guys are going to be making out the entire time, aren’t you?”

Laughter gained a few looks in their direction and Yang could feel her face flush at the sudden attention to the hushed conversation. Pyrrha, instead of answering, stood up, “I’m going to go back to the hotel. Jaune, let me know when you are coming back.” She gave the boy a sweet kiss before turning to offer a hand to Yang. “Come on. You need to sleep.” The blonde didn’t protest as she was tugged along.

There wasn’t any talking on the way back. Pyrrha knew well enough to not press for whatever was bothering her, but Yang also wasn’t even sure what to say. They were close, closer than her and say Nora. However, it wasn’t often that they were alone. It was always with someone who took up the majority of the redhead’s half of the conversation. However, she was grateful for the retreat. Since they had already checked in, Pyrrha knew where the room was. Which was why the quiet comment about how atrocious the carpet was surprised Yang into a sudden laugh. Pyrrha immediately followed with a giggle. With a look around, they hurried into the room.

The blonde grinned at her friend, “You know, if you wanted me alone...”

“Yes. Of course. I’m even trying to get you naked.” Pyrrha laughed as she shook her head. She moved toward the single bed with a decent sized bag already sitting in the middle of it. “Go take a shower. I’ll find you some of my pajamas. Then, we can talk once you get out.”

The tone was light, but there was an underlying threat. Yang felt her face fall. With a sigh, she made her way to the bathroom door, “Yeah. Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, the rewrite of The Devil is a Boy has brought new things. Later chapters will feature strictly female fronted bands. And will take the title of said chosen song.
> 
> And won't come across like a Grammar-failing, dyslexic twelve-year-old. Even though that was me. Literally.


End file.
